Hey Ez, I Think Someone Owled Ya
by MAB49
Summary: Who finds out this time about the wizarding world?


Disclaimers: Once again, I don't own the Mag 7 or its characters, nor do I won Harry Potter or the characters involved in that universe. I also don't own Lenny Hoskins, who is property of Bernadette. I also thank MOG for creating the ATF universe in Mag 7 fan fiction. In other words, please don't sue me as all I have of value is… nothing. I just have debt (you try getting something of value when you have to pay off a student loan!). Oh, the ninja is JD's motorcycle. There are scenes that allude to Bernadette's marvellous story, "The Betrayal." Go read it (It's on the Ezra Standish page of the Blackraptor site).

Hey Ez, I Think Someone Owled Ya

Buck was in his truck on his way to Ezra's to pick up JD. The ninja broke down again and the kid was leaving it as Ezra's until it could be fixed. Wilmington frowned at this. Dunne was spending a lot more time with the team's undercover agent over the past couple of months now. He shouldn't be jealous of the camaraderie.

Nope, he was not jealous. Sure he had 'all those women,' as JD put it; Sure he had work, his friends from work, his friends outside of work, the guys at the gym to chat with, team five to torment; what more could he ask for?

To hang around JD more and to have the kid hang around Ezra less.

JD was like a little brother to him. He took the youngest member of the team under his wing. They were roommates for crying out loud! They should be able to share secrets and he had the feeling that Ezra's was a doozy.

It had started with the Zyles case.

JD went to meet with Ezra and Lenny Hoskins, than afterwards the trio were hanging out on a regular basis.

No, he wasn't jealous.

He saw JD all the time and the two still hung out—albeit not as much anymore, but most Sundays were still 'Toys 'R' Us' days.

It was mainly the days that the kid disappeared with Ezra that bothered him. He didn't know why, but it wasn't because he was jealous. He just was wondering what they did. He was curious. Yeah, curiosity! That was it!

And with that healthy dose of curiosity it irked him that he, Bucklin Wilmington, had absolutely no idea of what they did. Oh, he could come up with different scenarios, but each one was more disturbing then the previous one. And that scenario of them dressing up as clowns doing a cooking show… Buck shook his head at this thought.

The ladies' man didn't look through his roommate's room or his computer, he was man enough not to do that. However, everything else in the apartment was up for fair game, including any boxes or packages left about.

Then Dorchester entered the picture. Dorchester was JD's pet cat that Ezra gave the kid. Dorchester was a strange cat who seemed to have a lion's tail, was spotted and whose face seemed as though it was a tad pushed in as well. He wouldn't say that the 'nice little kitty' was ugly, but she wasn't the most gorgeous cat, either. However, JD adored Dorchester and vice versa. But there were times when the ladies' man got the feeling that there was something more to Dorchester then met the eye. It was as if Dorchester could understand what was being said, that he knew what was happening in her surroundings.

But if anyone gave his roommate a pet, it should have been him!

Okay, maybe he was a bit jealous—but that was all! He didn't hold it against the Bostonian or Southerner, because he knew that it was him. Buck was man enough to admit that to himself. He just wanted to know what the secrecy was all about. The moustached agent wanted to know what only his roommate and the undercover agent knew. He wanted to pull Ezra further into the family and maybe if another person knew the secret… Maybe it would help.

Yes.

No.

Maybe.

"Ah hell!" he said out loud, as he stopped at a light. "I'm goin' round in circles with this!" He saw drops of water fall onto his front windshield. 'Well, the forecast did call for rain.' It was a good thing that the ninja broke down at Ez's house, and not on the road. When the light turned green, he drove through the intersection. The few droplets of rain quickly turned into a downpour.

'At least where he would park on Ez's driveway was near the front door,' was all that the ladies' man could think, remembering that he had no umbrella. He saw Ezra's townhouse and pulled up into the driveway. Buck opened up his truck door, and ran to Ezra's front-yard pathway. He went onto the porch and rang the doorbell. As he waited for someone to open the door, he could hear laughter. His brows furrowed; Hoskins was here! Didn't he have a home in Atlanta?!?

The door opened and Ezra came into view. "Hello, Mr. Wilmington."

Buck went inside. "Evenin' Ez. JD ready?"

"In a moment," Ezra replied. He motioned for the moustached man to follow him. Buck toed off his shoes and ambled into the living room. Inside, he saw Hoskins and another man. The surveillance master sized up the latter to be a middle aged, but obviously had a hard life judging by the scars on his face. His hair was greying and shaggy. If it weren't for the hair, he could have been pegged as someone in intelligence or a merc. Then again, appearances were deceiving. "Mr. Wilmington, I would like to introduce you to a good friend of mine, Mr. Remus Lupin. Remus, please meet a friend and colleague, Mr. Bucklin Wilmington."

Remus got up from the couch and held out his hand. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Wilmington."

"Same here and just call me Buck."

Remus bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Of course, Buck. Please call me Remus."

"Sit, Mr. Wilmington. Would you care for a coffee or perhaps a cup of tea?" Standish offered.

"No, that's all right," Buck replied. "Where's the kid?"

"Upstairs in the bathroom," responded Hoskins.

"What are you doing here, Hoskins?"

"Just visiting," was the glib reply.

"Uh-huh," Buck said. "So, Mr. Lupin, where abouts are you from?"

"I live in London, England."

Buck felt like a fool standing up, so he sat down on the corner of the couch. "How do you know Ez?"

"We met at school. We were also in the same House."

"House?"

"A dormitory," Standish answered. "At the boarding school we went to, they called them 'Houses'."

"Oh. Have you been to the U.S. before?"

"A few times," was Remus' answer.

Buck gave a great big smile. "I've always wanted to know, what was Ez like in school? All prim and proper or did he have a wild side?"

"Mr. Wilmington!"

Remus chuckled. "Everyone has a little of everything in them. Even Ezra. However, I have to admit that he concentrated more upon his studies."

"So no fun stories, right?"

"The only 'fun' stories that involve him also incriminate myself, and as you Americans say, 'I plead the fifth'."

The ATF agent nodded. "I can respect that." He noticed Ezra picking up glasses and dishes. "I'll help you with those, Ez."

Ezra waved him off. "Please, you are a guest, Mr. Wilmington—"

"No," Buck interrupted. "I'm a friend and friends help each other out." The ladies man picked up a glass and a half-empty bowl of potato crisps. "I'll bring these to the kitchen."

"Well, after that spiel, I better get my ass moving as well," Lenny said as he scrambled off the couch.

"What kind of guests would we be if we didn't offer to help?" Remus added as he gathered some dishes.

"What's going on?" JD asked, seeing his friends collecting dishes and utensils.

"We're helping to clean up," Lenny replied.

"Cool. Let me help out."

-----

"Ready kid?" Buck asked JD as the latter entered the kitchen.

"Yep. Thanks for everything, Ez."

"It was no trouble at all, Mr. Dunne."

"See you later, Remus, Lenny."

"Take care, kid."

"Have a safe trip home," Remus said.

"Shouldn't I be saying that to you?" Buck asked jokingly.

Remus just laughed. Buck was about to grab the kid to leave when he heard a knock on the window. The two FBI agents, young ATF agent and the Englishman went still at this. Another knock was heard. Ezra got up and discreetly tried to get Buck back into the living room.

"Mr. Wilmington, I do believe…" Ezra began.

But Buck had none of this. His gut told him that this was part of the secret and since he was the closest to the window…

"Buck! Don't!" JD yelled as his roommate went to the window. He glanced outside and blinked. The older ATF agent turned to his friends, Remus and Lenny with a quizzical expression. He turned once again to the window, and opened it. A brown coloured owl came inside carrying beige envelopes, flew around the table three times before he dropped the letters onto the table and flew to a chair to perch on.

"Hoot, Hoot."

Everyone froze as the owl peered at the ladies man, who approached the table and picked up the dropped items. He looked at the address and held them out to Ezra

"Hey Ez, I think that someone owled ya."

Silence

"Pardon me, Mr. Wilmington?"

"I said that I think someone owled ya," Buck repeated.

"Oh, 'owled' because of the owl," JD said

"No, 'owled' as in owl post." Buck now knew the secret that his friends shared. And out of everything he couldn't have imagined this. He pulled a chair away from the kitchen table and sat down.

"What's your owl's name, Ez?"

"Wilmington, what makes you think—"

"Can it Hoskins!" interrupted Buck. "My uncle was a wizard so I think that I know the significance of being owled!"

"His name is Eustache," Ezra quietly offered.

"What kind is he?"

"A brown owl."

"I thought that maybe you would have went for a fancier owl like a snowy owl or somethin' like that."

"A snowy owl in Denver, Colorado?" Lenny asked.

Buck shrugged. "You're right. It would look a bit conspicuous."

"Ezra, you're to be commended in expanding Wilmington's vocabulary!"

"Shut up, Lenny!" The ladies man looked at the people now sitting around the table.

"So, a wizard. I never expected that from you, Ez. But I have an easier time thinking of you as one than JD. And Lenny?!?"

"I would imagine that you never expected several things from me," Standish replied. There was no use in obfuscating anymore. After all, Buck had just stated that his uncle was a wizard, and hoped that he was correct in his assumption that his secret was safe. Or actually, that their secret was safe.

"Actually, I'm the token squib," Lenny allowed. "Well, I'm not really a squib, but these guys think of me as one."

"You're a muggle? I thought that muggles weren't allowed to know? I mean the only reason why I know is because my mom and I stayed with him for a while."

"Are you mad that I didn't tell you, Buck?" JD asked. "I mean, I really wanted to tell you, but since you know the rules, I couldn't tell you because I didn't think that you knew about the wizarding world but hey, it's cool that you're uncle was a wizard so now you can know, about us I mean." JD was worried though. While he didn't exactly lie but obfuscated, it was still a lie of omission. Then again, how could he have brought it up? 'Gee, that was a great bust last night! Everything went according to plan, Chris didn't lose his temper and by the way, did I ever mention that I'm a wizard?'

"JD… Can we talk about that later?"

"How about we talk about this now?" countered Hoskins. "You have three mediators who can see both sides to what's going on."

"Some of who are wizards!"

"So? Ezra is a brilliant strategist and will have no problem with impartiality!" Lenny exclaimed.

"Hoot! Hoot!"

"Now look! You've gotten Eustache all upset! There, there Eustache, Wilmington is protective of JD, but he doesn't like the fact that he hasn't been in-the-know," Lenny comforted.

"Hoot!" Eustache flew and landed in front of JD. The owl stared at the moustached agent.

"So how come you know, Hoskins?" Buck inquired.

"A perp back in Atlanta was a wizard," was the reply. "He sort of 'outed' Ezra to me."

"That'll do it. I think I need a beer."

"I'll drive home," JD offered.

Buck was silent for a moment. "Sure."

"Mr. Wilmington, please do not blame Mr. Dunne for not confiding in you, regarding of what he is. As you yourself have stated, your uncle was a wizard and know about the rules so…"

"I'm not upset about that, I'm upset because… I don't know why I'm upset! I should have known! I'm a god-damn surveillance expert, I should have seen something! I saw the signs, especially with Dorchester! That is not a normal cat, is it? She's your familiar."

"Uh, yes?"

"Is that a question or an answer?"

"He can be my familiar, but I really just think of him as my pet," JD replied. "She's also a kneazle. Well, part-kneazle, part-cat."

"Wilmington, the kid really is sorry about keeping this from you," Lenny put in. "You haven't seen him racked with guilt for not telling you. Sometimes, that was all that he could think about."

Buck looked at the FBI agent closely. "You really care for him, don't ya?"

Lenny nodded. "He's a friend. And you know that I'll defend my friends."

The surveillance expert nodded. "Yeah, I remember that real well." He turned to his roommate just as Ezra placed a bottle of beer in front of him. "Thanks, Ez. JD, I understand. I'll get over this. It may take some time, but trust me, I'll get over this."

"That should be in a week," Lenny translated.

"Hoskins, will you can it?"

"The three of us will leave the two of you alone for a while," Remus said. "We'll be in the living room watching some telly. Gentlemen?"

As Remus, Ezra and Lenny filed out of the kitchen, the latter turned to Buck. "Don't you dare hurt him, Wilmington."

"Damn it Hoskins! You know I won't!"

"I know nothing of the sort," Lenny retorted, remembering how buck had treated Ezra during that fateful undercover assignment, which almost saw Ezra nearly killed and almost leaving the team and Denver.

"He's my brother, I won't hurt him! Now get out before I call Ez."

"Ezra doesn't scare me."

"Lenny," JD piped up. "I'll be fine. But thanks."

Hoskins nodded before leaving.

Buck shook his head. "That guy certainly is looking out for you."

"Lenny is a friend, Buck. Friends look after each other's backs."

"Yeah, I know." Buck stilled for a moment. "Can we have a private conversation here?" he called behind his shoulder.

The two wizards and thought-of-squib turned to face each other. They had been standing out of the doorway's sight. 

"How?" Lenny asked.

"He is a surveillance expert," Remus put in. "Especially when one surmises that he is trained for this."

"Well, let's go to the living room then," Ezra stated. "There are times when I wish that my animagus form was a fly. This is one of them."

-----

Some time later:

"So is everything all right?" Lenny asked seeing the roommates leaving the kitchen.

"As best as can be," Buck answered, going to the couch and sitting down.

Lenny turned to JD. "Is that good or bad?"

"It's good," JD assured.

"Good."

"Ez," JD began. "I'm just gonna go upstairs and get my robes. No use leaving them here anymore when Buck knows."

"That is quite true," Ezra admitted.

"Well, now that this is over, I'm going to make some coffee." And with that, Lenny left for the kitchen.

Buck turned his head to see Ezra. "I thought you said that Lenny can't cook."

"Do not worry, Mr. Wilmington, while Lenny is an abominable cook, he does make a fairly decent cup of coffee. He has been in law enforcement long enough to do that."

"How does that explain Vin?"

"Every rule has an anomaly," Ezra replied.

Buck nodded.

Remus sized Buck up. "Are you sure that everything is okay? Because Lenny is not the only one fond of JD. And believe me, I'm much more dangerous then him."

"I know, you're a wizard."

Remus gave a small smile. "It's not just because of that, but it'll do."

"Thanks for looking out for the kid. It does mean a lot to me, knowing that someone else is," Buck said.

"Think nothing of it. Someday, we will have to floo to England. I think that you would enjoy certain aspects of the wizarding world."

"He is not going near the twins' shop!" Ezra protested. "Besides, we can always bring him to wizarding sector here. It will be a slow re-introduction. Unless your uncle did not bring you to the wizarding world."

"No, he did." Buck paused. "What a minute aren't there terrorist attacks happening in England?"

"They're actually Death Eater attacks; the Nazi version of wizards."

"Ouch. And you've taken JD over to England?!? Are you out of your mind?"

"Could be," JD replied as he entered the living room, carrying his robes. "And don't worry, Ez took good care of me. Remus, too."

Buck let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Ez, Remus."

"Buck, I can look after myself."

"Yeah, I know, but I can still worry!" Buck objected.

"Harumph!"

"Well, we better get going," the ladies man said getting up.

"How about JD exchanges your car key for his robes. While one beer would not normally affect you, you did have a series of surprises today," Standish suggested.

"What surprises? Besides the obvious one I mean?"

"The owl."

"I can top that one!" said Lenny. "Me! You never expected me to be here."

"Lenny, you have been here numerous times, I suspect that Mr. Wilmington half-expected you to be here."

"Yeah, but I bet he never thought that I'd stick up for the kid."

"True," agreed Buck holding out his key to JD. The latter gave his roommate the robes, which were grasped in a firm hold.

The roommates were escorted by Ezra to the door. Buck and JD put their shoes back on while JD also put on his coat.

JD had gone outside into the pouring rain and Buck was about to follow when Ezra gripped his arm.

"Mr. Wilmington, you may not take Remus' or Lenny's threats seriously, but you know me. You know as well as I do that JD cannot hide his feelings quite as well as we can. Ergo, should the young man exhibit any distress brought upon by yourself, I will use muggle and wizarding methods to make you wish that you were dead. And I'll be able to get away with it. Remember, I can disappear along with JD into the wizarding world. Do we have an understanding?"

"You give good threats, Ez," Buck noted grudgingly. "I won't lie and say that it doesn't hurt because it does. But I understand. And as JD said, he can fight for himself."

"I will further tutor him in my lessons."

Buck sighed. "He'll be fine. And so will you. I promise not to tell anyone about you being a wizard. Does this mean that Maude…"

"She is a muggle. My father had been a wizard. Not that it matters."

"Yeah," Buck agreed. "My grandparents were muggles. See you tomorrow at work, Ez. I'll bring you one of those fancy coffees that you like."

"What makes you think that I would accept such a gift, coming from a prankster such as yourself?"

"I'm not stupid to play pranks against a trained wizard," Buck replied before going out to his vehicle.

Ezra smiled as Wilmington got into his truck and the two left. He quietly closed the door and returned to his friends in his living room.

Wilmington had stated that he was smart enough not to play pranks against a trained  
wizard. However, the undercover agent had not been friends with the Mauraders…


End file.
